Patent · US Active

High availability in-service software upgrade using virtual machine instances in dual control units of a network device

US9021459B1 · kind B1 · utility

97Cited by
13References
27Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateSep 28, 2011
Grant dateApr 28, 2015
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 8, 2032

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F2009/4557
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Techniques are described for providing high availability (HA) during an in-service software upgrade (ISSU) of a network device, e.g., a router, by running a pair of virtual machines on each of a primary control unit and a backup control unit within the router. First virtual machines may be run on the primary and backup control units to provide high availability for the router. Upon receiving an ISSU request for the router, second virtual machines may be initialized on the primary and backup control units. If the ISSU of the primary control unit fails such that the first and second virtual machines on the primary control unit are executing different software systems, the virtual machines on the backup control unit may provide high availability for the router. Similarly, the virtual machines on the primary control unit may provide high availability for the router during the ISSU of the backup control unit.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.